1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the provision of contours in deep-pile fabrics and especially to simulating contours found in natural furs and the like. In particular, it relates to provisions for distorting a fabric base in such a way that natural-looking contours can be imparted to deep-pile fabrics by plane shearing the fabrics.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Efforts have been made in the past to provide three-dimensional deep-pile fabrics which simulate the effect obtained by sewing together small animal pelts, such as mink, to form natural-fur garments. These past efforts generally have involved distorting the fabric base at the shear rest as the fabric is passed through the shear. This has required that the base or back of the fabric be distorted into a shape which is a mirror image of the contour desired on the finished pile surface.
The various means proposed in the prior art for controlling the shape of the fabric back have proven to be unsatisfactory. They have all caused some portions of the fabric to be stressed and strained excessively while other portions have been left uncontrollably loose. These conditions have caused contour shapes to be very irregular in the finished pile.
Attempts have been made to eliminate irregularities in the contours of the finished pile by controlling the loose portions of the pile by means which engage the pile side of the fabric. These prior art attempts have caused other surface discontinuities and have resulted in serious operating problems, such as causing erratic tracking of the web, edge flutter, chopping at the fabric edge, and tearing of seams which join pieces of the fabric into one continuous web.